Joseph Blair Weeks

Joseph Blair Weeks was born on December 5th, 1935, in Pennsauken, New Jersey to Edith and Joseph Weeks. He had spent some of his childhood on the family turkey farm, one the most memorable trips he had was the Worlds Fare in 1939. Growing up in the 30s and 40s he was out all day until the streetlights came on, many friends and memories were made along the way. As he put it “we drank water from a garden hose and not from a bottle, drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar and we weren’t overweight, why? Because we were always outside playing, that’s why.”

He grew up without much of today’s technology and media entertainment, especially cell phones. He loved being able to walk across the street and knock on his friend’s door or even into their home to talk to them, the real-life personal connections were something he cherished. He was falling out of trees with friends, breaking bones and teeth, mud pie and his personal favorite, eating worms. He used to earn spending money by riding his bike to the grocery store for his neighbors. He had moved around a lot throughout his childhood and had many experiences.

He moved to California where he graduated high school and lived there until he joined the Army. After serving in the army, he moved back to California where he met Shirley Gillett, the two began dating until their marriage in 1961. They grew their family with three beautiful kids: Wendy, Craig, and Brandon. Many amazing memories of family vacations, bike rides and beach trips were made.

He worked full time, built his own sailboat and provided sailing lessons, and even had a bike shop. He got to teach the kids a lot and create fond memories. Eventually he was moved to Tucson, Arizona for work traveling back and forth to California to see Shirley. Retiring in Tucson, he enjoyed the outdoors, swimming and taking their dogs for walks. He was deeply loved by his grandkids and was the honorary handstand judge.